Monday, September 21, 2015

September 17th is Constitution Day. On this day, we talk about the Constitution and how it is an important document that explains the rules that keep our country safe. This year, we had school pictures on the 17th, so we had our school meeting about Constitution Day today. Mrs. Hughes read a short story about the Constitution and her students taught us some important facts about this special document. This assembly gave us a chance to work on being role models for the younger students in our building. We practiced being respectful listeners who are in control of our bodies. We did an amazing job!

Friday, September 11, 2015

This week the students started to learn about math stations in Room 9.. After a half hour whole class math mini-lesson and practice time, the students are broken up into four groups, depending on the skills they need to review and practice. For the next 40 minutes, the students rotate through two math stations and then, the next day, they rotate through the second two math stations. (It takes two days to get through all four math stations.)

Our first math station is M, which stands for "Meet with the Teacher". During this group, students come to my desk and we work on skills and math strategies that are specific to each student. We might focus on number order, adding and subtracting, telling time, identifying coins, or multiplying depending on each students needs.

The next group is A, which stands for "All Alone Math Work". Each student has a folder with review work that they can complete independently. This is a great way for students to practice the skills that we have already learned and build a strong mathematical foundation to build upon throughout the year..

The next math station is T, which stands for "Technology". Students log in on a chromebook and practice various math skills in their Dreambox learning account. Each student has an individualized math program that changes the math skills based on how well the student is doing. It provides extra practice on areas of weakness and it also challenges them with new math concepts.

The final math station is H, which stands for "Hands-on Learning". During this station, kids play math games that reinforce various math skills we are working on. This week, we practiced writing and reading tally marks, counting by fives, adding, and using ten-frames to help us mentally add numbers in our head.

Since this was our first week, we kept things pretty simple. We practiced skip counting, identifying and counting coins, adding and subtracting one digit numbers, patterns on a number grid, and we talked about how we can and will explain our math thinking throughout the year. Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Mrs. McCleary came in today and led a guided discovery of the school bus. We talked about the parts of a bus as well as how we act when we ride on a bus. We walked around an actual bus and really studied each part including the mirrors, lights, reflectors, camera, and the safety bars. We then took a short ride to Creek Farm Plaza and back so we could practice our fantastic bus behavior. Thank you Mrs. McCleary!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

(Sorry I'm posting this 4 days late....technical difficulties!) We have had a fantastic three days so far! We've talked a lot about routines and classroom expectations so we celebrated with ice cream sandwiches. Let's hope our classroom stays as cool as these frosty treats for the rest of the week!!

Curriculum Video

All About Me

Hi! My name is Colleen Collins and I have been teaching second grade at Union Memorial School for 20 years! I love teaching and I feel so blessed to be able to work with such amazing children. I received my bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from the University of Scranton in 1997. In 2005, I finished my Masters degree as a Reading Specialist at Saint Michael's College. I live in Colchester with my two daughters Sarah and Anna. In my free time I love to play with my girls, read, and be outdoors. Thank you for visiting my blog! Please return soon!